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Spending on sexual health has plummeted while levels of diseases are soaring, a think tank has warned.

The King’s Fund said spending on public health budgets has fallen by more than £80m in one year, with sexual health services among those seeing the sharpest cuts.

The think tank said the cutbacks, at a time when syphilis levels are the highest in 70 years, were “short-sighted”.

Public health experts said it was “reckless” to attempt to make such savings, which were likely to fuel a higher bill for treatment of sexually transmitted infections.

Councils are allocated funding for public health services, and have protected spending for some services, including those for children. Others - chiefly services for sexual health, drug addiction and stopping smoking - have seen the brunt of cuts.

The report found planned spending on sexual health services has fallen by £64 million, or 10 per cent in the last four years, and is set to continue to fall, by £30 million, or five per cent this year.

Services to tackle drug misuse will see a £22m cut, while those to help smokers quit will see a £16m cut this year, the analysis found.

David Buck, senior fellow in public health and inequalities at the King's Fund, said: "Reducing spending on public health is short-sighted at the best of times.

"But at a time when the rate of syphilis is at its highest level for 70 years, to cut spending on sexual health services is the falsest of false economies and is storing up problems for the future.”

Websites which help people find local sexual partners have also been blamed for a rise in unprotected sex

Latest figures from Public Health England show 5,920 syphilis diagnoses in 2016 - the highest level since 1949 and a near doubling from 3,001 cases in 2012.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, said services were experiencing “devastating” cuts.

“When the NHS itself has called for a ‘radical upgrade in prevention and public health’ to save the service from collapse, it is reckless to be doing the exact opposite,” she said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We have a strong track record on public health—cancer survival and dementia diagnosis are at a record high whilst smoking rates and teen pregnancies are at an all-time low.

"Over the current spending period we will invest more than £16 billion in local government public health services.”

"Moreover, we have shown that we are willing to take tough action to protect the public's health—introducing standardised packaging of cigarettes, a Soft Drinks Industry Levy and a world leading childhood obesity plan.”